SAGINAW, MI — Nature found its way into several basements of Saginaw residents this week. As April’s rain showers accumulated this week, sump pumps across the county have felt the toll of excessive rainfall.

“I woke up this morning and I had a river in my basement,” said Edith Donald, 55, of Saginaw.

After raining for five consecutive days last week, Wednesday, April 17, the downpour again hit Saginaw, Bay and Midland counties, causing yards and homes to fill with water.

“Thursday, I woke up and went to my basement and found 2 to 3 feet of water,” Donald said. “This happens every time it rains and the Saginaw River crest goes over the limit. We get that water.”

For many, this is the second time this month they have experienced flooding.

Paul Williams, who owns three apartment buildings at Williamson and Studor in Bridgeport Township, said he flew in to Saginaw last week from where he lives in California, to start handling insurance claims after rain caused flooding a week ago.

“Last week, I took on about a foot of water in each of my three buildings here,” Williams said.

Williams believes a water pump station was not working properly, causing many homes along Studor to take in water.

However, Township Manager Rose Licht said the pumps in Bridgeport are working just fine.

“The pumps at Williamson and Studor are working. They are operating at full capacity,” she said.

Licht said it’s simply just nature and it has to run its course.

“It’s because we had all of that rain last week and the ground is so saturated and the water has nowhere to go, and on top of that we got the rain from last night,” Licht said. “This is mother nature. There is nothing we could do.”

Melinda Townsend has experienced flooding four times since moving into her Studor Street home in 2007 — three of them within the last year.

“This is the second time since last week,” Townsend said. “Everything in my basement is ruined.”

Townsend's neighbor Ron Hockey said he was barely finished cleaning from the first flood before the second one occurred, but he believes there is something else causing it.

“Most of these houses were built before storm sewers were put in,” he said.

Hockey, who said his home was built in 1964, had two water pumps running off power from a gas generator.

“I came downstairs early in the morning and there was water to my knees,” he said. “I killed the power to my circuit box.”

Licht is asking residents to be safe and keep electrical objects away from water.

“Our fire department has already been dispatched to a couple of places today,” she said. “Be really careful because this water is out of control.”